Order
Passeriformes
Family
Dulidae
Genus
Dulus
 
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Version 1.0

This is a historic version of this account.  Current version

SPECIES

Palmchat Dulus dominicus

Sarah Dzielski
Version: 1.0 — Published November 7, 2014

Appearance

Distinguishing Characteristics

Palmchats are unique among the birds of Hispaniola. This is a medium sized passerine with a moderately long tail. The upperparts are brown, with a hint of olive green on the primaries and on the rump. The underparts are buffy cream, thickly streaked with dark brown. The bill is pale yellow, and the iris is a striking russet red. The sexes are similar in Palmchat.

Similar Species

Palmchat is distinctive and is unlikely to be confused with other species within its range. The only similar bird is Pearly-eyed Thrasher (Margarops fuscatus), which is larger and longer tailed than Palmchat, with finer, denser belly streaking and a darker overall appearance on the belly. The thrasher also has a distinctive pale white iris (not red as in Palmchat), a longer white tipped tail, and a longer bill. Pearly-eyed Thrasher does not occur on Hispaniola, but is present on Isla Beata, off the southern coast of the Dominican Republic; Palmchat does not occur on Beata, however.

Detailed Description

The following description is based on Ridgway (1904):

Adult: Sexes similar. Upperparts olive; the back, scapulars, and wing coverts more brownish, the lower rump and uppertail coverts olive greenish. Feathers of crown and nape with very indistinct, darker central streaks. Rectrices brownish gray, feathers edged with pale olive greenish, and with brown shafts. Secondaries (except for tertials) and primaries edged with pale yellowish olive green. Lores, suborbital region, and auriculars uniform dark brown or dusky; malar region dusky, streaked with yellowish white. Underparts yellowish white, broadly and sharply streaked with sooty brown, the streaks narrower on the belly, and broader and paler brown on the undertail coverts. Underwing coverts pale buff or buffy whitish, with very narrow, indistinct brown shaft streaks.

Immature: Similar to adult, but "the feathers of the throat and foreneck are almost entirely dark with only faint lighter edgings and the rump is lighter being buffy brown" (Wetmore and Swales 1931).

Molts

Undescribed.

Bare Parts

Iris: reddish, reddish brown

Bill: yellow

Tarsi and toes: dark gray

Bare parts color data from Wetmore and Swales (1931) and Latta et al. (2006).

Measurements

Total length: 19-21 cm (Wetmore and Swales 1931), 20 cm (Raffaele et al. 1998, Latta et al. 2006)

Linear measurements: 

data from specimens (from Wetmore and Swales 1931):

male (n = 17)

wing length: mean 86.3 mm (range 82.3-89.8 mm)

tail length: mean 69.8 mm (range 65.6-77.0 mm)

bill length (culmen from base): mean 15.1 mm (range 13.5-16.5 mm)

tarsus length: mean 22.3 mm (range 20.3-24.4 mm)

female (n = 15)

wing length: mean 86.8 mm (range 83.4-90.0 mm)

tail length: mean 68.3 mm (range 63.5-77.4 mm)

bill length (culmen from base): mean 15.0 mm (range 13.7-16.0 mm)

tarsus length: mean 22.2 mm (range 20.2-23.5 mm)

data from live birds (n = 8, sex undetermined; Arendt et al. 2004):

wing length (chord): mean 86.87 mm ± 2.27 mm (range 84.4-90 mm)

tail length: mean 66.9 mm ± 4.35 mm (range 62-70.3 mm)

bill length (exposed culmen): mean 14.52 ± 1.89 mm (range 11.1-16.5 mm)

tarsus length: mean 21.5 mm ± 2.32 mm (range 18.2-23.5 mm)

Mass: mean 48.36 g ± 4.16 g (range 41.4-52.5 g, n = 8, sex undetermined; Arendt et al. 2004); male, 50.5 g, 51 g (n = 2; Arendt et al. 2004)

Recommended Citation

Dzielski, S. (2014). Palmchat (Dulus dominicus), version 1.0. In Neotropical Birds Online (T. S. Schulenberg, Editor). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/nb.palmch1.01